Too few US adults get their shots

Written By: Jason Shafrin
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Jan•
24•08

Reuters reports (“Too few…“) on the problem that U.S. adults not receiving necessary vaccines.

“Only 2 percent of U.S. adults last year got a shot that can protect them from painful bouts of shingles, health officials said on Wednesday in a study that shows what they call unacceptably low rates of adult vaccination against a range of diseases.

Adults also failed to get vaccines that can protect them against tetanus, whooping cough and even influenza — despite years of campaigning, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] found.”

There are a variety of vaccines and different vaccines only apply to certain demographic groups based on their age, sex and risk factors. Some risk factors are obvious (e.g.: being HIV positive, having sex with prostitutes) but others are more mundate (e.g.: working in the healthcare or public safety sectors, being a first-year college student, traveling abroad).
Here at the Healthcare Economist, I don’t just point out potential problems, I offer solutions:

One Comment

this is an expensive vaccine ($125) that has only 50% effectiveness. That means that if your lifetime risk of getting shingles is 3%, spending $125 gets you down to 1.5 %. Worth the $ only for the rich. It is unknown what the duration of even that limited protection is.